Office · Adaptive Reuse · Charlottesville, VA
An existing mixed-pour slab, polished to a Level 3 finish — without resurfacing.
- Location
- Charlottesville, VA
- Sq ft
- 8,400
- Industry
- Office
- Finish
- Polishing Council Level 3
- Service
- Surface Prep · Polishing · Sealing
The challenge
Mixed pour history. High-gloss target. No demolition allowed.
The lobby slab in this adaptive-reuse project had been poured in two phases years apart — the texture and density were visibly different across the joint. The owner wanted a Level 3 polished finish (high-gloss, light-reflective), but resurfacing wasn't on the table: too much disruption, too much cost, and the joint pattern was part of the floor's character.
Our approach
Profile each pour separately. Let the joint show. Polish through it.
Rather than try to make the two pours look identical (which would have meant grinding so deep we'd expose more aggregate than the design called for), we profiled each section to CSP-2 with adjustments calibrated to each pour's hardness. We densified with a lithium silicate that reacts more aggressively with the softer pour, evening out the surface hardness chemically rather than mechanically.
From there, we polished through 800, 1500, and 3000 grit, finishing with a topical guard. The joint between the two pours remained visible — but as a clean line, not a transition from matte to glossy.
The outcome
Gloss reading 47 at delivery. Two pours, one finished floor.
The finished lobby reads as a continuous Level 3 polished surface. The pour joint sits in the floor as intentional character — visible if you're looking for it, invisible to most visitors. No resurfacing, no overlay, no replacement. Just the existing slab, properly understood and properly polished.
Have a slab with character?
Adaptive-reuse projects are some of our favorite work. Send what you've got and we'll tell you what's possible.